Reimagine Summer 2014

reimagine
SUMMER 2014
A Chancery Hall study
reconsiders the future of
a 50-year-old Edmonton
landmark
Re-skinning the
72-storey First Canadian
Place in Toronto was no
simple task
AT YOUR
SERVUS
Manasc Isaac
helped breathe
new life into an
Alberta credit
unions head
ofce
How retrotted
spaces are winning
the design ght
Old vs.
NEW
Ask an architect
Mid-century style
Toronto towers
Urban design
By the numbers
THE BEAUTY OF RETROFIT
PREMIERE ISSUE
ReimagineSum14 cover pg1.indd 1 2014-06-06 3:05 PM
reimagine
CONTENTS
Introducing GlasCurtain, an innovative
curtain wall framing system offering
increased comfort and energy savings.
glascurtain.ca
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Aluminum is obsolete.
The future is breglass.
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ISSUE #1
SUMMER 2014
reimagine
Why retrot,
renovate, and
remodel?
Property
owners are
realizing the
long-term
benets to
their wallets,
tenants, and
the planet
6 Samsung makes use
of seacans in Sochi
during the Winter
Olympics
10 Five Manhattan
West will change
the NYC skyline
22 A conversation with
Gary Whitelaw
14 Buildings of the
1970s are getting
a makeover in a
big way
26 Servus Corporate
Centre gets a
new look from
Manasc Isaac
32 Appraising
reimagined
buildings based
on their merits
40 How the EPCOR
1931 Heritage
Building was
updated and still
kept its vintage
charm
43 A look at Torontos
Tower Renewal
Strategy
46 Should Edmontons
Chancery Hall be
reimagined?
50 The last word
36 How the tallest
ofce building
in Canada was
re-skinned
+
Cover photo
courtesy REX
Contents photos
courtesy
Manasc Isaac,
blogs.paris.fr,
REX, Bentall Kennedy
CONTENTS
20
Introducing GlasCurtain, an innovative
curtain wall framing system offering
increased comfort and energy savings.
glascurtain.ca
C
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Aluminum is obsolete.
The future is breglass.
000RE-GlasCurtain-FP.indd 1 2014-06-04 11:34 AM
Slave Lake
Government
Centre
RISum14 2-3 ToC.indd 3 2014-06-06 3:06 PM
Reimagine Interiors specializes
in custom designs that optimize
your space for the people who
use it. Using reclaimed materials
we create beautiful, vibrant and
sustainable workspaces.
reimagineinteriors.ca
CALGARY 403.614.9909 EDMONTON 780.429.3977
FSC LOGO
PLACED BY PRINTERS
MANASC ISAAC ARCHITECTS
Editor-In-Chief
Vivian Manasc
Associate Editor
Kent McKay
Graphic Design Consultant
Lisa Mentz
VENTURE PUBLISHING INC.
Publisher
Ruth Kelly
Director of Custom Content
Mi Purvis
Managing Editor
Shelley Williamson
Art Director
Ryan Girard
Associate Art Director
Andrea deBoer
Production Manager
Betty Feniak Smith
Production Technicians
Brent Felzien, Brandon Hoover
Director of Circulation
Sharlene Clarke
Circulation
Karen Reilly
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Peter Dushenski, Matt Hirji, Jen Janzen, Shafraaz Kaba,
Brynna Leslie, Omar Mouallem
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS
Garth Crump, Joey Podlubny
Reimagine is a biannual publication produced by Venture Publishing for
architectural rm Manasc Isaac. Manasc Isaac is a Canadian leader in integrated
sustainable building with deep expertise in the reimagining of existing buildings,
primarily those built between 1950 and 2000.
Reimagine showcases the best of reimagined spaces and promotes sustainable
building practices in the community, and strives to be the authoritative business
voice on the value of reimagined building practices.
Contents 2014 by Manasc Isaac. No part of this
publication should be reproduced in print or on websites
without written permission.
Non-deliverable mail should be directed to:
10225 100 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0A1
ISSUE #1 SUMMER 2014
reimagine
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elcome to Reimagine magazine! We
are excited to launch this publica-
tion, which we hope will inspire
you to rethink the future of ex-
isting buildings. You may be wondering Whats the
big deal about existing buildings? And why now?
The short answer is this: we are at a critical
point. New ofce towers are under construction in
every major urban centre. These towers, designed
to achieve LEED
Gold or Platinum ratings, are

attracting some of the largest and best tenants. The
remaining building stock that lled our urban cores
in the 1970s is reaching the 50-year mid-life point,
and is becoming relatively less attractive to both
owners and tenants.
So there is a choice do we just patch up these
older buildings until its time to tear them down
and replace them with new ones? Or is there an-
other way to frame this question?
Ours has been a culture of disposability. Across
North America, the typical approach to old
buildings has been to tear them down and build
something new. With land values increasing and
innovative technologies enabling taller and more
complex buildings with larger oor plates, weve
long been able to argue for the economics of re-
placing buildings with newer, greener ones. Unlike
the European approach that values preservation, we
tend to value the new and improved version of all
aspects of our environment. So whats the new and
improved version of existing buildings?
Simple analysis might suggest that old buildings
cant function as well as new ones, or be as sustain-
able. While many existing buildings are well-man-
aged and fully occupied, some of them, especially
those of the 1970s and 1980s, are perceived as ugly.
Others are simply experiencing a mid-life crisis,
being abandoned for newer alternatives and the
question of what to do next is top of mind, for the
owners, the investors and the tenants.
As environmental sustainability rises to the fore-
front of virtually every corporation, we are remind-
ed of the 40 per cent contribution of buildings,
both in terms of operational energy use, carbon
generation and embodied energy in the materials.
The opportunity to enhance the performance of
existing buildings represents low-hanging fruit.
The alternative to replacing aging buildings
is to reimagine them. Leveraging the expertise of
architects, engineers and builders, we can renovate
existing buildings to benet tenants, owners and
managers alike. We call this process reimagine, since
the technique goes well beyond traditional renova-
tion solutions.
There are three pillars to the reimagine strategy:
Enhanced urban design. The appearance of
existing buildings can be dramatically improved by
making modications to the building facade and
glazing.
Improved energy efciency. Energy use can
be reduced by improving the building envelope, as
well as the passive and active building control sys-
tems. This results in smaller mechanical and electri-
cal systems, and improved occupant comfort.
Re-energized ofce interiors. Ofce space in
existing buildings can be made as attractive as space
in new buildings by bringing in fresh air, increased
natural light and healthier materials. And the reimag-
ine process can, if well handled, be completed with
minimal disruption to existing tenants.
As this conversation about renovation and recap-
italization develops, Reimagine pulls in some of the
brightest lights in the real estate, construction and
architectural and green building worlds to illuminate
the impending questions that an aging building stock
raises, and explore ideas about how we can address
these questions.
This beginning of this conversation is captured
in the pages of this inaugural issue.
We hope that you nd the case for the reimag-
ine approach compelling and its strategies (some of
which are incredibly simple) workable. I look for-
ward to hearing your comments, which will inform
upcoming issues.
Thank you for joining this conversation! re
Sincerely,
Vivian Manasc
Editor-In-Chief
WELCOME BACK
TO THE FUTURE
reimagination
W
vivian@miarch.com
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reframe
trends, innovations and ideas
SUSTAINING
SOCHI
Say what you will about the Sochi
2014 Winter Games and the free-for-
all Russian spending to host them,
but one display was certainly medal-
worthy for its eforts to reuse and
reimagine existing materials.
Made entirely of primary-coloured
shipping containers from around Russia
stacked like bricks, the Samsung-
sponsored pavilion, Galaxy Studios, was
a standout performer at Sochi. Whats
more, the structures will continue their
upcycled life post-Olympics, when
they are moved to school sites in Russia.
Complete with full-size windows
on the main oor to let in natural light,
the containers for the Samsung head
base were staggered to create entry
doors to the pavilion. Inside, some
posed as information booths, while
others made ideal stages to showcase
Samsung presentations.
Samsung had previously
reimagined a shipping container at a
school in Phomolong, South Africa.
Also solar-powered, the building nets
as much as nine hours of electricity
a day from a series of photovoltaic
panels on its roof, to power the
schools Internet lab for 21 students.
Of course, the lab is equipped with
Samsung Galaxy tablets.
PHOTO BLOGS.PARIS.FR
Samsungs display at the
Sochi Winter Olympics was
sea worthy
Reimagined shipping
containers make a
temporary structure
come together quickly
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TIMELINE OF
SUSTAINABLE
BUILDING
>
April 1970 First Earth Day
is held
1973 OPEC oil embargo
and energy crisis gives way
to burgeoning environmental
movement
1987 UNs World Commission
on Environment and Development
denes Sustainable Development
1990s New building
approaches start to emerge,
including C-2000 and R-2000
construction
1992 Rio de Janeiro hosts the
rst Earth Summit, where parties
agree on the Climate Change
Convention (the predecessor to
the Kyoto Protocol)
1992 When he takes power, U.S.
President Bill Clinton oats the
idea of greening the White House
1993 Union Internationale de
Architects sign Declaration of
Independence for a Sustainable
Future
1993 Industry and other
stakeholders form the U.S. Green
Building Council
2010 The REALpac 2010
Energy Benchmarking Report:
Performance of the Canadian
Oice Sector includes the results
of the rst annual REALpac
Energy Benchmarking Survey
2011 Cumulative square-footage
of LEED-certied existing
buildings surpassed LEED-
certied new construction for
the rst time. Since the U.S. is
home to more than 60 billion
square-feet of existing commercial
buildings, this trend serves as a
promising indicator of progress
2012 The Servus Credit Unions
reimagined building receives
LEED Silver certication
2013 U.S. Green Building council
celebrates 20 years of success
with the launch of LEED V4
2014 CaGBC launches LEED V4
in Canada
1995 The iconic town in the
Rockies builds The Ban Town
Hall the rst C-2000 building in
Alberta
1997 First Alberta Sustainable
Building Symposium is held
2000 LEED arrives. Leadership
in Energy and Environmental
Design is a ratings system for
designing, constructing and
certifying green buildings
2003 Canadian Green Building
Council (CaGBC) is formed and
LEED Canada is created
2005 St. John Ambulance in
Edmonton becomes the rst
LEED Silver project in Alberta
2000s LEED starts to go beyond
new construction into retrots
2000s Cities adopt LEED
policy; market demand for
accountability increases; people
pay attention to climate change in
increasing numbers
2009 LEED (U.S.) system
updates to LEED v3. It
encompasses nine rating systems
for the design, construction and
operation of buildings, homes
and neighbourhoods
2009 CaGBC creates the LEED
EB: O&M certication system
for existing buildings
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REUSE
IT OR
LOSE IT
BUILDING NEW IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION. A recent study, The
Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value of Building Reuse,
concludes that Building reuse almost always ofers environmental savings
over demolition and new construction.
Using an internationally recognized life cycle analysis methodology over
a 75-year lifespan, the study determined it can take between 10 and 80 years
(dependent on building type) for a new, energy-efcient building to overcome
the negative climate change impacts created during the new construction process.
The 2011 study, by National Trust for Historic Preservation, also indicates
that building retrots have considerable impact in areas where coal is the
dominant energy source and extreme climate variation is experienced.
One can only speculate about the tremendous impact a well-planned
and integrated, retrot would have in a Canadian city such as Calgary,
Edmonton or, to a lesser degree, Toronto (where energy use from existing
commercial buildings accounts
for approximately 40 per cent of
consumption).
This study and others like it
make strong data-based arguments
to support the need to retrot our
existing building stock not just
to save the planet, but from a
bottom-line perspective required by
building owners who are beginning
to understand that brown discounts
are going to be the penalty within
markets where green is becoming
mainstream.
Building new comes
at a higher cost than
many might think
1/3 OF ALL WASTE
RESULTS FROM
CONSTRUCTION
AND DEMOLITION
ACTIVITIES
1/3 OF ENERGY
AND MATERIAL
RESOURCES ARE
CONSUMED IN THE
BUILDING SECTOR
1/3 OF ALL CO
2

EMISSIONS ARE
GENERATED BY
BUILDINGS
Source: UNEP Sustainable
Consumption and Production Branch
To read the full Greenest Building study by the
National Trust for Historic Preservation, visit
ILBI.ORG/EDUCATION/REPORTS/GREENEST_BUILDING
and click on Full Report.
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TIMELY TOME
Retrotting an outdated, underperforming
building is one thing, but what about
reimagining an entire city?
Thats the premise behind John Gallaghers
Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for
Redening an American City (2010, Wayne
State University Press).
Gallagher, a Detroit Free Press reporter,
visited countless up-and-coming community
projects and took many of the photos that
accompany the text. He wanted to uncover
some of the strategies residents of Motor City
were using to recreate their home. And he
wanted to discover how they could build on
the work to make Detroit a more sustainable,
desirable place to live after its fall.
Anywhere from a quarter to a third
of Detroit lies vacant, creating a big city
Source: Cities and Buildings: UNEP Sustainable
Consumption and Production Branch
Buildings are key to
establishing sustainable
development patterns,
since the sector consumes
40% of the annual energy
consumption,
20% of the annual water
usage, and
generates up to 30% of all
energy-related greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions.
landscape quite unlike any other in North
America. Gallagher, who has covered urban
redevelopment in Detroit for 20 years,
spent a year on research before penning the
tome. The book showcases innovative work
happening to reclaim the urban landscape
instead of becoming another retelling of
Detroits well-proled decline.
In addition to delving into subjects from
urban agriculture to restoring vacant lots,
to moving toward a more entrepreneurial
economy, the 176-page paperback showcases
some of the innovative projects already on the
go toward rebuilding Detroit. Gallagher also
points to possible role models for restoring
the city in reimagine projects from across
the globe, including Seoul, South Korea and
Dresden, Germany.
energy
consumption
water
usage
greenhouse gas
emissions
40%
20%
30%
>
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WHILE NATHALIE KOSCIUSKO-MORIZET MAY HAVE COME SECOND IN THE
PARISIAN MAYORAL RACE EARLIER THIS YEAR, SHE PUT UP UN VAILLANT
EFFORT TO BECOME THE FRENCH CAPITAL CITYS FIRST FEMALE MAYOR, IN
THE END LOSING TO ANNE HIDALGO OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY.
Also Frances former minister of transport, among Kosciusko-Morizets
pledges was to reimagine Paris abandoned subway stations, with the help of
French architectural rms Laisn Architecte and OXO architectes. Reimagined
concepts for several of the abandoned or unused subterranean spaces include
lux eateries, theatres, swimming pools, night clubs, and even an underground
garden.
The Paris subway, the sixth-largest in the world, transports 1.5 billion
passengers annually over its 212 kilometres of tracks. At least a dozen of its
stations sit ghostlike, closed during the Second World War or which never
opened in the rst place because they were too close to others. The stations
in question are well positioned for downtown Parisian life, being close to the
Bastille and the Eifel Tower.
The French mayoral candidate said during her election campaign that,
if elected, she would take to the Parisian streets, so to speak, to elicit citizen
feedback on how to best repurpose the abandoned stations.
In an interview with Elle.fr, Kosciusko-Morizet said she viewed the
Paris metro as a place to connect with Parisians at large on an ongoing and
regular basis.
PARIS REINVENT
To see more renderings of the reimagined stations, visit
OXOARCH.COM/FRONT/PROJECT/STATIONS-FANTOMES-A-PARIS
This may result in better
comfort for occupants, premium
rent, tenant satisfaction and
lower turnover.
20% of our yearly
global emissions come
from buildings. This
includes electricity.
Retrots aimed at
building eiciency
result in up to
35%
better use
of energy.
RENDERINGS OXOARCH.COM
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ANOTHER BIO BRICK
IN THE WALL
TAKE 10
Top reasons to reimagine buildings
PERFORMANCE AND APPEARANCE: There
are opportunities to dramatically improve building
performance and appearance only 10 per cent of
the reimagine projects we have seen so far go as far
as they could.
FOUR FACADES: If all the facades of a
reimagined building look the same, its likely
you could do better. Shading the south side and
varying the type of glass from south to north
exposures can improve both appearance and
performance.
STAYING POWER: You only get to reimagine
a building once so make it count! If youre going
to all the trouble to replace the skin, get the
most value from it that you can. How? By rapidly
exploring lots of options.
SHRINKING PLANTS: Airtight and well-
insulated building envelopes can reduce the
mechanical heating and cooling loads by as much as
30 per cent. That means smaller heating and cooling
equipment as well as a reduction in energy use.
INTEGRATED BENEFITS: If the skin is replaced
at the same time that the HVAC system is upgraded,
there are signicant capital cost savings.
FRESH AIR: Re-skinning ofers the
opportunity to add windows that open. Operable
windows create better occupant comfort.
FUTURE-PROOFING: By adding operable
windows, you reduce the risk of evacuation in a
power outage. Preparing for the future can help you
to save down the road.
MEDAL MATERIAL: Like athletes, outstanding
buildings that perform well and look great earn
medals LEED, Governor Generals Awards,
industry awards and others.
CARBON FOOTPRINT: Re-skinned buildings
can contribute to zero-carbon building operations,
if designed with high-performance building
envelopes.
VALUE ADDED: Reimagined buildings are
worth more and command higher rents that their
competitors, which is critically important when
competing with newer towers.
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RENDERING DEZEEN.COM
Theres a tower on the horizon that is
about to make New York even livelier
this summer.
The Livings Hy-Fi was the winner
of a contest for young architects
art at the Museum of Modern Arts
PS1 Gallery. It will act as a showcase
during the summer music series at
MoMA and you could say it was the
natural choice. Made of agricultural
by-products and the branching, thread-
like part of fungus called mycelium,
the bio-brick structure will be
a temporary xture outside the
museum beginning in June. It
comprises twisting towers that are
100 per cent compostable and organic.
According to a press release from
MoMA, the structure temporarily
diverts the natural carbon cycle to pro-
duce a building that grows out of noth-
ing but earth and returns to nothing but
earth with almost no waste, no energy
needs, and no carbon emissions. re
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ike Research pre-
dicts that the global
market for building
retrots will nearly
double between the years 2014
and 2023. New York City, in
particular, is a hotbed of retro-
t activity. The Empire State
Building made the news in 2009
when its renovation strategy was
widely applauded not only for
restoring the buildings original
lustre, but also for integrating
modern sustainability upgrades.
One mile away from
the Empire State Building,
architectural rm REX is
coordinating a $200-million
transformation of another
Manhattan landmark, owned
by Brookeld Ofce Prop-
erties: 450 West 33rd Street.
This landmark will be reborn
as Five Manhattan West, fully
integrating into Brookelds
larger $4.5-billion Manhattan
West development.
Originally designed by
architectural rm Davis
Brody (now Davis Brody
Bond) and constructed in
1969, 450 West 33rd Street
is a striking example of
brutalist architecture. The
precast concrete cladding with
integrated windows is typical
of its time, boasting what
REX terms hard beauty.
The building was subject-
ed to some aesthetic modi-
cations in the 1980s, when
its exterior components were
painted beige or covered over
by brown metal siding.
These uncomplimentary
changes earned the building
the not-so-affectionately
nickname of The Tyrell
Building, after the headquar-
ters in the dystopian sci- lm
Blade Runner. Surrounded by
newer developments on each
side, the building was in dire
need of both aesthetic and
efciency upgrades in order to
compete for the citys Class
A tenants.
The buildings 140,000
square metres of interior space
required a facelift as well.
Although it boasts exception-
ally large oor plates (ranging
between 8,000 and 11,500
square metres), not all of the
space is leasable under modern
building standards due to the
structures distinctive geometry.
Most of the buildings
perimeter walls were designed
in 1969 and sloped at an angle
of 20 degrees, which meant
that the minimum height
for accessible paths of travel
did not reach the mandated
two-metre mark. Although
the obvious solution was to
make each oors windows
vertical, this posed problems;
snow, ice and guano would
accumulate on these steps.
In the end, REXs solu-
tion was to pleat the buildings
new facade, which addresses
By Kent McKay
BEAUTIFYING
BRUTALIST
P
The New York City skyline is slated for a
$200-million facelift with Five Manhattan West
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The buildings unique mix
of high ceilings and large,
open oor plates are
especially attractive to
companies seeking this
type of collaborative,
loft-like space.
- Dennis Friedrich, CEO of
Brookeld Ofce Properties
and mitigates myriad challenges related
to code, comfort and sustainability.
First, the new pleated facade treat-
ment maximizes oor plates and meets
the New York building code, reclaim-
ing space that was otherwise unleas-
able, yielding immediate nancial ben-
ets to Brookeld Ofce Properties.
In fact, this innovation transformed
a major design and leasing challenge
into a net positive for the commercial
real estate corporation.
Manhattan West is a vital mixed-
use real estate development and the
redeveloped 450 West 33rd Street gives
the urban campus even greater depth
and diversity, says Dennis Friedrich,
chief executive ofcer of Brookeld
Ofce Properties. The buildings
unique mix of high ceilings and large,
open oor plates are especially attrac-
tive to companies seeking this type of
collaborative, loft-like space.
Further savings were achieved
by precisely angling the under-slung
panes of the facade so that they do not
qualify as skylights, which are far more
expensive, requiring safety laminated
glazing. This design choice marks a
sustainable strategy for Five Manhattan
West. Even though the pleated facade
increased glass surface area, the
insulation value of the new glazing
assembling is higher than before,
meaning there has been no reduction
in energy performance or insulation
value for the building.
Also, the new facade treatment
improves tenant comfort within the
space. The over-slung panes of glass
are partially opaque, reducing the
amount of glare and solar heat gain for
occupants near the windows. At the
same time, the design allows additional
natural light to pour into the space,
enhancing the tenant experience and
providing more of the occupants with
access to daylight. The incredibly trans-
parent and open interior spaces help
to open the massive oor plates of the
building. Finally, upgrades will be per-
formed to the buildings lobby, elevator
cores and building services, aligning
with the needs of upscale ofces.
The buildings improved aesthetic
will integrate with the rest of Brook-
elds Manhattan West development.
REX describes the shape as suggesting
a shimmering cascade or a beckon-
ing lighthouse Fresnel lens that reects
the sky. Either way, Five Manhattan
Wests rebirth marks a dramatic urban
design improvement.
The buildings triple bottom line
results conrm the feasibility of trans-
forming aging building stock into
leasable assets.
With a projected completion date
of 2016, this renovation will mark
Five Manhattan West as a beacon of
progress in West Chelsea, and make
the nancial and environmental case
for innovative building retrots. Today,
Canadian cities with a glut of brutalist
structures from the same era as Five
Manhattan West are facing the ques-
tion of either retrot or demolition.
Reimagining existing buildings proves
to be both an economically and envi-
ronmentally better choice. re
IMAGES COURTESY REX
The buildings
perimeter walls were
pleated, to mitigate
earlier issues with
snow, ice, and guano.
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IMAGES COURTESY WIKICOMMONS / DANIEL SCHWEN
ost North
American cities
are populated
with skyscrapers
and buildings that were built
post-war, during periods of
remarkable building booms.
Many of these buildings are
now landmarks due to their
design, height or in some
cases, their tenants. Now
many of these modern era
landmarks are reaching a time
that requires reimagination
and reinvestment. Two
examples for remarkable
transformation of these
landmarks include Chicagos
Willis Tower (formerly the
Sears Tower) and Torontos
First Canadian Place, housing
the Bank of Montreal. Both
built in the 1970s, these
two landmarks have set the
standard for a total building
retrot while maintaining
their iconic and landmark
status.
The Willis Tower was
constructed in three years
beginning in 1970 and was a
signature modern design by
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Rising to 110 storeys, it was
the tallest building in the
western hemisphere, only
recently being surpassed by
the Freedom Tower in New
York. It remains the eighth-
tallest building in the world.
The amount of energy
and material it took to realize
this status is staggering. There
is enough concrete in the
Willis Tower to make an
eight-lane highway that is
eight kilometres long. In fact,
most modern-era buildings
enjoyed the use of very ne
materials. The Willis Tower,
for example, used travertine in
lobby walls, granite ooring
and stainless steel trim.
In 2009, Adrian Smith +
Gordon Gill Architecture
completed a wholesale
building renovation of
the Willis Tower. This
transformation demonstrated
that through integrated,
architectural design, a far
more energy-efcient and
desirable tower could emerge.
Some of the efciency
improvements included
lighting upgrades and retrots
to controls. Improvements
to the mechanical system,
using cogeneration with gas-
red boilers, high efciency
chillers and upgrades to the
distribution system, yielded
greater strides in efciency.
New xtures in all washrooms
and kitchens provided
conservation of 10 million
gallons of water annually.
Some environmental
M
By Shafraaz Kaba
Retrot landmarks from the 1970s
need not lose their iconic status
MODERN
LOVE
whats trending
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impacts were based on how
tenants would interact such
as providing bike-to-work
facilities and fuel-efcient car
incentives. One of the most
interesting is a green roof
prototype installed on the
terrace of the 90th oor. If
the building proceeds with a
glazing retrot for its 16,000
single-pane windows, it will
save a remarkable 50 per cent
in heating energy.
In Toronto, First Canadian
Place the tallest building in
the British Commonwealth
has realized a similarly
remarkable transformation
since its completion in 1975.
Designed by Edward Durrell
Stone with B+H Architects,
it originally had an exterior
composed of 45,000 panels
of white Carrera marble.
Unfortunately, these panels
were not able to withstand
years of freeze-thaw action and
acidic rain in Torontos variable
climate. When the panels began
to fall off, a major building
retrot in 2009 replaced the
exterior skin with a glass system
that was sympathetic to its
classic modern appearance.
This new glass skin improved
insulation as well as preventing
undesirable heat gain, and
helped with the bulk of the
27 per cent energy savings
after retrot.
In the last four years,
we dropped demand from
17.5 megawatts to roughly
13 megawatts. Aside from
the considerable savings,
weve also improved tenant
comfort, says Fernando Dias,
senior operations manager at
First Canadian Place.
In addition to the
remarkable recladding of
the building, new chillers,
ventilation strategies,
lighting reductions, and
re-commissioning helped
achieved a far more effective
and efcient building. A
unique energy efciency
measure was a tenant review
of the buildings sub-metering
data that helped the owner
and its tenant create energy
reduction strategies. In fact,
the recommissioning and
ne-tuning of control systems
played an extremely important
part of the energy reduction
strategy and didnt cost a great
deal of money. (For more on
First Canadian Place, see the
feature on page 36.)
Michael Brooks, CEO of
the Real Property Association
of Canada (REALpac), says as
much as 50 per cent in energy
savings can be realized in
existing buildings. It is readily
apparent with projects like
the Willis Towers reimagining
that this estimate has weight.
Imagine that most of
our skyscrapers and ofce
buildings built since the 1940s
have not had much in the
way of insulation, effective
glass and exterior window
framing, efcient mechanical
or electrical systems. With
reimagining buildings by
re-skinning and undertaking
mechanical and electrical
retrots we must consider
how much potential there
is for reducing our energy
consumption while retaining
the landmark buildings
that dene our cities. It is
becoming a necessity rather
than a choice. re
The Willis Tower was
renovated over a
period of three years
from 2009 to 2012.
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material world
By Peter Dushenski
New composites strengthen a case for
renovations using curtain wall systems
BEHIND THE GLASS
hether foreseen or not,
commercial building operators
rise to new challenges every
day, but ultimately the
consequences of the decisions made during
the buildings design process are very real and
have lasting effects.
From the angle of a buildings roof to the
orientation of its windows, design decisions
made today can have long-lasting impacts. This
means that the best design must also be exible,
adaptable and easy to maintain in the long run.
More than just being attractive, design has to
imagine a multitude of future uses.
When a team sets out to design a new
building or renovate an existing one, it can be
tempting to rely on only the most tried and
true ideas; those that served well in the past.
Of course, if this were strictly true, its possible
that wed still be building with sticks and
mud in which case renovating would be as
complicated as adding water to dirt. Clearly,
technology has taken building design and
redesign far past this point of no return.
Designing better buildings means taking some calculated
risks and entering uncharted territory. But this can come at a
cost. If the product fails, it can always be replaced; but architects,
designers and project managers have only one reputation one
thats always hard-earned.
Enter curtain wall: the preferred building envelope of modern
and contemporary architects and one of the most revolutionary
design elements of the past century. Curtain walls, distinguished by
an all-glass appearance and composed of little more than a frame
and a glazing (glass) element, were ground breaking when they
rst appeared in Mies van der Rohes and Le Corbusiers designs
in the 1920s. And theyve never been more popular, thanks to
their striking exterior appearance and the volume of daylight that
they allow in a building. Curtain walls are now integral parts of
contemporary and modern design aesthetics.
Since the 1920s, curtain wall technology has evolved
incrementally. Early systems were a sight to behold, but their
thermal performance was always their weakness. When single-
paned glass was the norm, the curtain wall systems had little
insulating capacity. But, as window technology improved
to incorporate double- and triple-paned glass, thermal
performance has improved dramatically and energy waste has
greatly decreased. Still, compared to an insulated wall, some
curtain wall products bleed their fair share of energy, so the race
is on to improve their performance.
As triple-paned glass use is becoming more common in
buildings, were nding that the curtain wall frame surrounding
the glass, typically aluminum, is the next hurdle to achieving more
energy efcient building envelopes.
Over the years, to address the curtain walls frame shortcomings,
composite or rubber thermal breaks have been added to
aluminum components. These solutions were never more than a
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Band-Aid, as aluminum conducts energy
so well that it ultimately lets much of
a buildings energy escape. Additionally,
aluminum stresses the seals between the
glass and frame with constant expansion
and contraction, eventually leading to
air and water inltration and further
maintenance costs.
In the next few years well need
alternatives. With new, more energy
efcient building codes coming into
effect across North America, higher-
performance building envelopes will
be mandatory. Additionally, 2015 will
also see the implementation of LEED
v4, a challenging overhaul of the gold
standard for sustainable buildings.
Overall, energy efcient buildings
are becoming not so much an option,
but an expectation. Maintaining
aluminum curtain walls with all their
shortcomings has suddenly become a
tough pill to swallow. For 50-plus years,
the lightweight metal has been the de
facto choice for curtain wall frames and
quite simply, there havent been other
options. Until now.
New products like GlasCurtain, a
berglass composite curtain wall frame,
provide a solution. Since composites
absorb rather than conduct energy, they
give building envelopes better thermal
performance and building operators
lower utility bills from the start.
Meanwhile, occupants enjoy a
building material thats warmer to the
touch and one which creates a more
comfortable living space.
Down the road, the reduced
contraction and expansion of breglass
in response to changing seasons and
weather makes it far more durable
than its aluminum counterparts.
Those whove maintained older
aluminum curtain wall systems
know that the seals connecting the
glazing and frame will eventually fail,
leaking air and water. Air inltration
leads to drafty buildings which have
difculty keeping in cool air in the
summer and warm air in the winter.
Ultimately, broken window seals put
additional strain on energy intensive
HVAC systems, increasing utility costs
even further. Eventually, to stem the
bleeding energy bills, the window seals
are replaced at a signicant capital cost.
On the cost side, were starting
to see commodity prices take off,
pricing many products and materials,
particularly metals, out of renovation
projects. Thankfully, replacement
products made out of composite
materials can be not only more cost-
effective up front, but they also offer
long-term material advantages and
performance improvements.
The market conditions and the
regulatory environment have never
been more demanding than they are
today. To stay ahead of the curve, its
crucial to imagine all of the possibilities
and think creatively about how to
best use our buildings. It is becoming
increasingly clear that GlasCurtain is
one option to do just that. re
PHOTOS COURTESY GARTH CRUMP
This rst full-scale installation allows
the perfomance to be monitored
through Edmontons cold winters.
GlasCurtain breglass composite framing
has similar propeties to window glazing, but
doesnt expand and contract as much.
18
ask an architect
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from Brussels to Seoul
Where have you
seen buildings being
reimagined?
There are interesting
reimagined buildings all
over the world. I saw a few
examples on a recent trip to
Seoul, South Korea. Also, in
Brussels there are innovative
examples, and in Vienna
there were two reimagine
projects under construction
when I was last there one
for OPEC and one for the
Austrian Finance Ministry.
There are some really good
illustrations in the U.S., many
of them 1970s buildings similar
to the precast concrete clad
ofce towers so common in
Alberta. The Edith Green
Wendell Wyatt Federal Building
in Portland, Oregon, is one
we will talk more about in an
upcoming issue. Across the U.S.,
from the Empire State Building
to the Peter W. Rodino Federal
Ofce Building in New
York, there are examples that
lead the way cost-effective
and environmentally sensible
strategies to extend the life of
existing assets by another 50 to
100 years.
What is integrated
design?
Integrated design is a
process of design in which
architectural and engineering
disciplines, as well as owners
and builders, are integrated
into the design process to
allow the project to realize
synergistic benets.
The goal is to achieve
high performance and
multiple benets at a lower
cost than the total for all the
components combined. This
process integrates green design
goals and objectives into
conventional design criteria
for building appearance,
function, performance and
cost, improving environmental
performance while reducing
point-chasing.
A key to successful
integrated building design
is in-the-room participation
of people from different
disciplines of design:
architecture; mechanical
engineering; lighting and
electrical engineering; cost
consulting; interior design;
and landscape architecture.
To make this effective, a good
facilitator is needed to keep
the conversation moving and
to cover the key issues.
By working together at
multiple key points in the
design process, the client team,
the contractors and the trades
people these participants can
often identify highly attractive
solutions at conventional
building costs.
Integrated building design
strategies are considered for
Reimagine magazine sat
down with Vivian Manasc,
principal architect at
Manasc Isaac, to talk
about reimagine projects
and integrated design.
THE ROOTS OF
REIMAGINE
PHOTO RYAN GIRARD
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The Austrian Finance Ministrys building,
located between Johannesgasse and
Himmelspfortgasse in Vienna, has
undergone two reimaginings, one
between 1967 and 1973, and the most
recent in the past six years.
all aspects of reimagining existing buildings, and can integrate
frameworks such as LEED Existing Buildings: Operations &
Managment (EB: O&M), safeguarding water, creating healthy
indoor environments, and using environmentally preferable
materials.
What are the fundamental elements in
integrated design?
There are three key elements that we have learned impact
effective integrated design:
Smart Start. Its critical to dene success at the start, and to
dene the key stakeholders and their expectations. When we
include our full team at this stage, we gain energy and buy-in
into the project, and achieve outstanding sustainable results.
Continuity. This relates to the transition from start to nish.
Creating continuity in the design process results in successful
sustainable buildings. Keeping continuity, starting from
programming, through detailed design construction documents,
and onto construction ensures you of integrated designs value.
Simulation. Design visualization, when done quickly and
in the room helps the team to build a shared understanding
of the project. Energy and daylight models help to simulate
building performance. In an integrated design approach, the
mechanical or energy engineer calculates energy use and cost
very early in the design, informing designers of the energy use
implications of building envelope alternatives, glazing changes,
mechanical systems and lighting options. Signicant savings can
be identied, right at the start of the design process.
Integrated design is an innovative design process that results
in lower operational costs and increased efciency at lower
capital costs than traditional design processes. The integrated
design process is also known for the quality of its value analysis.
From the rst design meeting, it helps to establish cost and value
parameters for the project. The team should be conversant with
current market conditions. At each stage of design, an integrated
design team prepares clear illustrations and a detailed opinion of
probable cost, for each stage of the project.
So, that explains what integrated design is, but how do you
make that happen? What are the steps? Well answer that in the
next issue of Reimagine magazine! Stay tuned. re
The Big Picture
For more information on integrated design, see the Whole
Building Design Guide of the National Institute of Building Sciences:
www.wbdg.org/design/engage_process.php
PHOTO VIVIAN MANASC
RISum14 18-19 askArchitect.indd 19 2014-06-06 4:19 PM
WHATS
OLD IS
NEW
AGAIN
Proponents of reimagining agree
holistic retrotting is a better but
often overlooked option for aging
and underperforming buildings
By Omar Mouallem
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Shortly after the baby boom
came the ofce-building boom.
In cities across the country,
developers and planners
cleared their cores for low-rise
and highrise buildings that
would ll up and drain out with
white collar workers as the sun
rose and set.
By Omar Mouallem
Further accelerated by the oil rush, Edmonton
and Calgarys towers went up so fast there was
little regard for heritage or energy conservation.
But, then again, that was the zeitgeist before the
oil crises of the 1970s.
Today the commercial and institutional sector
that inhabits many of those structures makes up
13 per cent of energy use in Canada, and the build-
ings themselves are dun certain ge. Yet another
oil rush has brought rapid growth to Alberta and
ofce-building owners now face the same question
their predecessors had. Should they preserve what
they have, knowing full well theyre underperform-
ing, or destroy and rebuild?
Theres a third possible fate for such a building,
too, though its often overlooked. It can be reimag-
ined; that is, re-outtted with an attractive facade,
energy-efcient envelopes, mechanical system
upgrades and other redesigns that make it more
comfortable and more inviting for its tenants and
passersby. And though a holistic rehabilitation can
sometimes cost just as much as new construction,
more property owners are realizing the long-term
benets to their pocketbooks, tenants and planet.
>
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Randy Ferguson, chief operation ofcer
of Strategic Group, is one of them. When
Strategic purchased the Hillsboro Tower
in Calgarys Mission District in 2011, the
30-year-old eyesore looked like a dilapidated
strip mall, he says. The retail on the lower
level had a brown and beige facade, pointed
gables reminiscent of a suburban garage and
a cluttered walkway. The parkade above was
opaquely fenced and adorned with a large and
gaudy damask print. It was dated and it didnt
present itself well to the street, he says, but it
had tremendous potential.
Upper-end retailers and restaurants were
cropping up in the surrounding spaces and
the Calgary-based company wanted a piece of
the action. Ferguson approached Manasc Isaac
Architects, with whom hed worked before
joining Strategic Group in 2012, and soon the
architects and engineers from the Alberta rm
had a feasibility study to reimagine it.
Luckily for Strategic Group, 1800 4 Street
SW, which has since been renamed 1800,
required a minor makeover compared to some
of its other 72 operating assets across Calgary,
Edmonton and Surrey. So now, two years
since the feasibility study for the tower, drivers
and passersby see a bright and steely facade, a
lauded high-end French bistro and open walk-
ways. A bright green band streaks across 1800s
rounded upper-body and spikes like a vital sign.
Indeed, it got a second life.
At the time that Vivian Manasc,
senior principal of Manasc Isaac, was studying
architecture at McGill University, the world
had just experienced the 1973 OPEC embar-
go and witnessed the price of oil quadruple
overnight. It inuenced what we discussed in
school, she says. There was a lot of conscious-
ness to energy conservation. As climate change
became the crisis of her generation, the con-
versation only got louder, and the need to do
something about these energy-sucking ofce
buildings got more urgent.
Early in her career, the Edmonton architect
made environmentally friendly design a signa-
ture of her work. In 2002, she co-founded the
Canada Green Building Council and became a
LEED-accredited professional, that is, someone
knowledgeable about green building technolo-
gies, best practices and the ever-evolving Lead-
ership in Energy and Environmental Design
rating system. Over the years, she has been
impressed by how the international brand has
enabled a discussion about sustainability.
People think its a rating system but its
actually a language, she says. You can write
the National Enquirer with that language or you
can write Shakespeare. It doesnt determine
how well its being used. Its a means of
communication.
Manasc Isaac had been designing new as
well as reinvigorating existing buildings to be
high-performing for 30 years, but it recognized
that without a name the conversations around
the work lacked consistency. Manasc Isaacs
holistic transformations, as well as those being
done around the world by like-minded rms,
were more than a retrot, repurposing, renova-
tion or re-skinning.
Five years ago, the team decided to coin
the term: reimagine. The lower-case r was
an invitation and challenge for the real estate
industry to use it too. As architects, we have the
opportunity to inuence, and an obligation to
do the right thing around everything we design,
everything we touch, says Manasc. We often
talk about how great it is to design sustainable
buildings and thats great, thats nice, but for
every new building that one designs, there are a
hundred or a thousand old buildings.
Of course, the responsibility doesnt solely
lie with architects. Property owners must raise
their standards, tenants must want to associate
themselves with environmental practices and
governments must enable it with building codes
or nancial incentives or both, as the City of
Toronto did. Since the 1996 Better Buildings
Partnership initiative to reduce CO
2
emissions
was implemented, that city has invested $711
million into reimagining more than 2,000 build-
Some reimagine projects include:
Servus Corporate Centre (interior shown at bottom)
Slave Lake Government Centre
EPCOR 1931 Heritage Building
First Canadian Place
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Isaacs very own reimagined ofce) have helped building owners
achieve higher green standards, but there are some basics too.
Windows that open, for example, are sadly rare in ofce buildings
despite the comfort workers get from being able to connect to the
outside. Another is clear glass that lets in the sun for better daylight
and psychological comfort.
Fixtures aside, a big focus for reimagining is better insulating
the building envelope, which Manasc describes as its coat. Build-
ings are a lot like people, she says. If you go outside in the cold,
your body can only generate so much heat. Theres a couple of
ways to solve that problem, the least expensive being putting on a
warmer coat. You could add a bigger boiler the building equiv-
alent to energy bar but that only works if energy is cheap or free,
which it rarely is. If your mechanical systems are at the end of
their lives and you have to replace them anyway, the old way was to
buy a new boiler. The reimagined way is to improve the envelope
and do with a much smaller boiler.
Though the conscientiousness of the real estate industry has
come a long way, its still got far to go. The biggest challenges are
indifference and the attitude that high energy use is just the cost
of keeping the doors open, says Bob Hawkesworth. The former
Calgary alderman and Municipal Climate Change Action Centre
coordinator helped implement the rst government green building
policy for the City of Calgary. The sense of pride the community
gets out of this, he says, is another overlooked benet.
Although theres a patchwork of energy-saving incentive pro-
grams across Canada, most exist at the municipal and provincial
level. REALpac would like to see the federal government do more.
Theres old building stock in every city in Canada, he says.
Without such incentives and language to lead the conversation
around sustainable building, developers might still think that tear-
ing things down and building is the cheaper option. If you dont
think about it the right way, says Manasc, you might come to the
erroneous conclusion that you need to tear it down.
She adds, The greenest building in the world is one that al-
ready exists. re
ings and 500 million square feet of ofce space.
In total, industry watchers estimate that the city
has collectively cut CO
2
emissions by 560,000
tonnes or the equivalent of pulling 73,684 cars
off the road for a year.
Though the market is transforming more
slowly than Michael Brooks, CEO of the Real
Property Association of Canada (REALpac),
wishes, he says the national trend is moving to-
ward sustainable design. Most big ofce tenant
rms want to be associated with sustainability
and are accordingly asking their landlords to
green the buildings they occupy or theyre
moving, he says. However, the focus is largely
on new construction, and existing buildings
risk falling behind.
For too many building owners, theres little
pressure to upgrade because tenants often pay
the energy cost and, as Brooks puts it, If the
tenant is not complaining and the building
is full, why would a landlord bother? But as
Strategic Group and other Manasc Isaac clients
know full well, there are many reasons that go
beyond increasing the market value. The evi-
dence just gets stronger every year that sustain-
able and green buildings are worth more, lease
up quicker and for higher net rents.
When a feasibility study is called
for, as it was for 1800, Manasc Isaac brings a
technical team to the building and parks itself
there, sometimes for a whole week, to examine
all its conditions and aspects, from engineering
to zoning. Whether it was the Edmonton Pub-
lic Librarys agship location or an empty re-
mand centre, Well set ourselves up a folding
table in a big empty hallway works and well
start to work through the options, says Manasc.
Well funnel it down to four or ve conceiv-
able scenarios and we show them the must-do,
should-do and nice-to-do investing.
The Strategic Group building is just the
rst of many properties in its holdings about to
be reimagined. Before, if you thought about
doing that on an existing building, there was no
chance at all you could make economic sense
out of it, says Ferguson, who has worked in real
estate for 38 years. When I look back just two
decades ago, its like looking into the dark ages.
Technology has moved us forward very quickly.
Its true that LED lights and solar-
panelled sunshades (like those at Manasc
The evidence just gets
stronger every year that
sustainable and green
buildings are worth more,
lease up quicker and for
higher net rents.
- Michael Brooks, CEO of REALpac
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Vivian Manasc: What interest do you see in sustainable
buildings?
Gary Whitelaw: For different categories of buildings,
we see varying levels of interest. Overall, I would say that
sustainability in the real estate portfolio is going from
nice to necessary, both because of tenant demand and
due to owner preference. This is especially true in CBD
ofce buildings and top-quality retail, though we see the
value in sustainable buildings across all categories in part
due to their need to be efcient and more resilient in
extreme weather.
VM: What are the factors driving that trend you mentioned,
from nice to necessary?
GW: Many of our clients who are big public sector pen-
sion funds report on triple bottom line. Bentall Kennedy is
a member of UNs Principles of Responsible Investment
and is a recognized global leader in responsible property
investing. Every year this is more and more important to
our clients. Pension funds and other institutional investors
are beginning to link nancial performance and sustainabil-
ity. Take Sun Life, for example. In 2012, Sun Life received
seven commendations at the national, North American and
global levels for ongoing sustainability initiatives.
VM: What are tenants asking for?
GW: When we get requests for proposals from the For-
tune 500 companies there is almost always a sustain-
ability component most are expecting to lease space in
LEED Silver or Gold base buildings. Those tenants look-
ing for big blocks of space in an existing building want to
see a recognizable benchmark such as LEED EB (Existing
Buildings) or BOMA BESt (Building Environmental
Standards). This has typically become necessary for larger
tenants and is increasingly being appreciated by smaller
tenants as well.
VM: How do you look at existing buildings and the
opportunities to retrot them?
GW: We have long-term plans for existing buildings,
which includes expected lifecycles and replacement costs
of major building components. This helps us to think
ahead and protects against building obsolescence. To
complement this process each building has a third-party
energy audit conducted and all signicant energy savings
opportunities are considered. This analysis occurs in a pro-
prietary tool weve developed called Eco Tracker, which
prices the capital costs and energy savings and informs
investment decisions. Eco Tracker is used throughout
Talking the
TALK
Gary Whitelawis CEO of the
Bentall Kennedy group of
companies, which employs
more than 1,300 people
throughout Canada and the
U.S. In this role, Whitelaw
manages upwards of $32
billion in property assets
on behalf of more than 500
clients across 140 million
square feet of ofce, retail, industrial and residential
properties throughout North America.
Gary joined Bentall in 1998 as president and chief
executive ofcer of Bentalls Investment Management group
(formerly called Penreal Capital Management) and has
led the company through 15 years of growth and change.
Gary sits on the boards of all Bentall Kennedy entities and
client funds, and is responsible for the performance and
governance of all operating and investment groups.
Prior to joining Bentall Kennedy, Gary held
progressively more senior executive positions in several
public and private real estate operating, investment and
development companies active in Canada and the U.S. He
also practiced as an architect for several years at the onset
of his career.
Gary holds a degree in architecture from McGill
University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He
currently sits on the boards of Delta Hotels and Resorts,
Ltd. and Silverbirch Hotels. He is also past Chair of the
Board of REALpac the Real Property Association of
Canada, and is a past director of the National Association
of Real Estate Investment Managers. Gary is also a
frequent speaker and panelist at industry conferences in
both the U.S. and Canada.
The following conversation took place between
Vivian Manasc, principal architect and president of
Manasc Isaac Architects an Alberta-based leader in
the design of sustainable buildings and Whitelaw in
April of 2014. Manasc and Whitelaw were classmates at
McGills School of Architecture at the height of the rst
energy crisis.
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our ofce portfolio, enclosed malls and multi-residential prop-
erties throughout Canada and the U.S. Eco Tracker provides a
single management and reporting system for energy utilities,
water and waste. It also includes a modelling tool, EcoModeller,
to model energy-saving, water-saving or waste-reduction mea-
sures and predict reductions in cost, consumption and GHGs
(greenhouse gases).
VM: So the Eco Tracker is your main way of evaluating
renovation options?
GW: In the context of sustainable buildings, yes. We look at
what we think will happen to operating costs and ask whether
the net rent can be captured. If the capital can be recovered
meaning that there is alignment between those who invest
and those who reap the benets, then renovation makes sense.
Where replacement is required and the cost falls outside of
those parameters, a similar analysis is done. Within the context
of the longer-term capital plan for the property, we look
at the capital appreciation that may result from a capital
improvement program.
VM: What about the older buildings that are being vacated by the
advent of newer and more sustainable assets?
GW: Yes, there is an element of keeping up with the Joneses
particularly if your buildings are losing market share. There are
often defensive reasons to make such investments. Sometimes
owners sell older buildings these are functionally obsolete
so as not to have to carry underperforming assets. Small oor
plates are also often found in older buildings, and these are not
that attractive to contemporary tenants. Interestingly, many older
buildings have thicker curtain walls and less glass, so after a deep
retrot they can be very energy efcient and compete well in
the marketplace. We recently completed such a retrot of an Art
Deco building in Boston. We certied it LEED Gold and it was
leased by a prestigious tenant.
VM: What are the priorities in terms of sustainable buildings?
GW: We nd new construction easier. New buildings can be
designed with large oor plates and sustainable systems. We can
readily and cost-effectively achieve LEED certication during
development. The construction cost of new buildings is easier to
predict than the complex process of renovations. Our focus on
existing buildings is to continue to pursue LEED and BOMA
BESt certication and to evaluate resiliency, efciency, and take a
long-term view of the money we invest on behalf of our clients.
As an example, for an owner of a rental apartment building,
there may be better value in re-skinning a building or making
larger investments, as the landlord typically gets the benet of
the reduced operational costs.
VM: So what do you see as the barriers to reimagining existing
ofce towers?
GW: Its difcult to quantify the cost of renovation there are
often surprises when you open up an older building and its
tough to keep budgets under control. The minute you start tak-
ing things apart, there are so many potential surprises. There are
also code and life-safety issues. Each time you come across one
of these, the construction cost increases but the environmental
impacts are not necessarily improved nor are the returns on
the investment.
VM: So how do the Pension Funds account for the environmental ben-
ets that could accrue from a renovation as opposed to a new building?
GW: If you are a signatory to UNs Principles for Responsible
Investment, as a number of our clients are, they advocate that a
pension fund has a duciary duty to act in the best long-term
interests of its beneciaries. Whether we build new or renovate
existing buildings, our role is to deliver a sound nancial return
that considers environmental benets to the pension funds or
institutional investors. re
BP Centre is one of the many green-focused buildings Bentall
Kennedy manages. Among other retrots, in 2012, a partnership
between Bentall Kennedy and Blu Planet resulted in setting up a
waste diversion target of 60 per cent for the LEED Gold building,
at 240-4 Avenue SW in Calgary.
PHOTO JOEY PODLUBNY
RISum14 24-25 TalkingTalk.indd 25 2014-06-06 4:21 PM
Reimagining of Albertas largest credit
unions head oce brought a dark and
disconnected space to LEED Silver status
SUSTAINABLE
SERVUS
By Kent McKay
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T ISNT EVERY DAY
THAT A BANKING
GROUP LETS YOU
SMASH A HOLE IN
THE CENTRE OF ITS
HEAD OFFICE, BUT
THATS PRECISELY
WHAT HAPPENED AT
THE SERVUS CREDIT
UNION CORPORATE
CENTRE RETROFIT.
Servus Credit Union is an Alberta community-
based nancial institution with a progressive approach
to doing business. The largest credit union in the
province, Servus takes pride in its community leadership,
performance and corporate social responsibility
commitments. In 2007, Servus approached Alberta
architectural rm Manasc Isaac with a request: to
transform a recently purchased former call centre into
a healthy, vibrant workspace for 400 of its staff.
The rms rst visit to the site revealed that this
retrot would be a challenging one for both designer
and client. The building that Servus had purchased was
ideally situated in the dynamic Edmonton Research
Park, and was effectively new, having only been oc-
cupied by its previous owner, Dell Inc., for two years.
The facility was a duplicate of another call centre in
Oklahoma, and Dell found it not feasible to maintain
the two centres, so it closed up shop in Edmonton.
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A near-new building seemed per-
fect, but there was a twist to the plot.
The American design of the original
structure had not factored the severity of
Alberta winters. Beyond operational cost
implications, this inefciency also com-
promised the buildings environmental
performance.
A company committed to environ-
mental sustainability, Servus conrmed
its need for a sustainable head ofce
when it approached architects at Manasc
Isaac. Servus and members of the Mana-
sc Isaac team met to determine the best
solution for the institution. A decision
had to be made: reimagine or rebuild.
Ultimately, the design team and owners
identied reimagining (and particularly
re-skinning) the structure as the best
solution for the company, its employees
and the environment.
When Servus was looking for a
new corporate centre, we considered this
building because it would allow us to
move in much quicker than building a
new one, says Brian Los, senior manager
of properties at Servus Credit Union.
It also allowed us to incorporate many
energy efcient features to achieve a
LEED Silver status.
The team took dramatic steps to
transform the building into the dream
ofce that Servus had envisioned.
Today, the Servus Corporate Centre
stands as an environmentally responsi-
ble landmark, showcasing the organi-
zations strong and vibrant corporate
image while delighting staff and visi-
tors alike.
When the design team rst
visited the space, it found that the call
centres key design focus had been to
maximize occupant capacity. Walking
into the rst iteration of this building
was like walking into a teenagers base-
ment bedroom, says architect Myron
Nebozuk. Dark and disconnected
from the exterior, many of the previ-
Manasc Isaac was enlisted by Servus
to breathe new life and sustainability
into a former Edmonton call centre.
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ous call centre spaces were solely focused on customer service
beyond the walls of this building, he explains. As we walked
through the mothballed building, the design team was struck by
the facilitys twilight quality, even with all of the lights turned
on. Nebozuk and the team resolved to make things better and
brighter, suggesting an interior atrium to give more people
more access to natural light and views.
The design team suggested punching a large hole in the core
of the structure, bringing light into the centre of the building
and creating a heart for the ofce. Cutting a hole in the oor is
no simple matter, says architect Vivian Manasc. It results in less
ofce space and it affects the building structure; cutting holes
has to be done carefully, to keep the structure stable.
Yet the benets promised a huge payoff. Daylight helps to
reduce operational costs by adding natural lighting, and more
importantly, it improves the look and feel the architecture
of the space, boosting employee productivity and health. Em-
ployees can now look out windows adjacent to their workspaces
and see the sun, sky, grass and even the changing weather.
This open atrium is the location of a dramatic feature stair-
case that connects each of the buildings three oors. Serving as
a meeting point for employees, the staircase fosters collaboration
and cross-pollination between departments. Featuring a rare steel
construction, the staircase even exes as users climb or descend.
By making the staircase interactive, the design team ensured that
occupants would want to take the stairs, in turn helping maximize
the atriums physical, mental and social benets.
Thermal imaging scans identied areas of thermal inef-
ciency in the building. Although the envelope, itself, was made
of durable and proven materials such as brick, concrete and steel,
the envelopes functioning resulted in signicant heat loss. It
was clear the building needed additional insulation to withstand
Edmontons climate; the design team resolved that a re-skinning
(or installation of a new building envelope) was necessary.
The new skin wraps around the exterior of the building
like a blanket, boasting two layers of additional insulation over
the old brick and concrete. Finally, metal cladding encloses the
insulation and offers a well-sealed rain screen. The results were
radical, yielding instant benets in both operational costs and
occupant comfort.
Building science engineer Mike Turner says that even when
the work was incomplete, the recladding proved to have a con-
siderable effect on the conditions inside the building. Construc-
tion workers in the building noted that the only drafty areas in
the building were where the cladding work hadnt been n-
ished, he explains. The result is more consistent temperatures
year-round, especially in ofce areas close to the exterior. This
means improved comfort within the building, and improved
durability of the structure itself.
AS WE WALKED THROUGH
THE MOTHBALLED
BUILDING FOR THE FIRST
TIME, THE DESIGN TEAM
WAS STRUCK BY THE
FACILITYS TWILIGHT
QUALITY.
- Myron Nebozuk, architect
Thermal Imaging scans
revealed signicant heat and
energy loss in the building.
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Windows can be a blessing or a curse to a building, de-
pending on their quality and sustainability credentials. Since the
former owners had not invested in efcient windows, the design
team opted to install all new windows. A high performance
Visionwall system was chosen. An innovative technology devel-
oped in Switzerland, these windows provide the highest win-
dow R-values (which measure thermal resistance and ultimately
efciency) on the market without reliance on inert gas lls.
These are no small savings: the new windows are three-and-a-
half times more efcient at reducing heat loss than the buildings
previous versions. Equally important to their energy efciency
is the fact that the occupants can open each window, optimizing
each employees control over his or her work environment. It
also saves operational costs by reducing the need for articial
cooling, saving money and energy.
Facing north, the spaces new donut hole atrium dramati-
cally increased daylight in the building. A large opening was cut
into the roof, second and third oors of the existing building,
and the clerestory now features windows two metres in height.
These windows can be opened, providing natural ventilation
and fresh air for the building.
Ultimately, the addition of daylight to the centre of the
building reduces its electricity use by 32.5 per cent and boosts
employee health. The ever-changing character of the light
during the day connects employees to nature, and to each other.
Fresh air and daylight make for a sustainable and healthy space,
and perhaps less obvious is the selection of materials that sur-
rounds building occupants throughout the workday. The design
team made sure that the materials used in this project were both
sustainable and healthy choices.
In fact, a large number of the items in the building are made
from recycled materials. Coat hooks, shower curtain rods, mir-
ror and stainless steel shelves were created from objects that had
other applications before the reimaging.
Dawson Wallace, the projects general contractor, exercised
careful management of waste during the demolition and con-
struction process, ensuring a maximum reuse of material. From
donating old lockers, to reusing communication system cables
and repurposing more than 90 per cent of the buildings former
carpets and oor tiles, waste was kept out of the landll during
the Servus Corporate Centre renovation.
Servus had no need for a kitchen in its new facility, and
the one Dell had installed was in disuse. As luck would have
it, Manasc Isaac was in the midst of a school renovation in a
neighbouring community and the schools funding did not
allow for a kitchen. Though the school planned to fundraise for
a kitchen, there ended up being no need: Servus was happy to
donate its lightly-used and Energy Star-rated appliances to the
school where it now serves 1,500 students.
The Servus Corporate Centre features a generous amount
of wood throughout. Staff and visitors might notice its use at the
reception desk, copy room cabinetry, and elsewhere. Certied
by the Forestry Stewardship Council, the wood is a product that
passes through the hands of ecologically responsible producers,
Among changes to the
former Dell call centre
were adding windows,
a high-performance
Visionwall system, and a
donut hole atrium.
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from the forest to the mill to the building.
The design teams choices are not just sustainable, they
are healthy. Unlike some furniture and building materials that
release toxic gasses, the design team specied products that
would not negatively impact employee health or indoor air
quality. Some green upgrades are not immediately visible in the
Servus head ofce. Boilers, for instance, were retrotted with
new burners. By replacing the burners to match the load, the
design team was able to increase energy efciency and decrease
operational costs, all while extending the life expectancy of the
equipment itself.
Since the Corporate Centre wont see occupants squished
into the workspace like sardines, it made sense to pull and
replace mechanical ducts to accommodate smaller, more sustain-
able occupant numbers.
As so much natural daylight oods the building via the
atrium and clerestories, it relies less on articial lighting. New
motion detection sensors help achieve energy conservation,
turning off lighting in areas that are unoccupied. These simple
mechanical upgrades work together to ensure that Servus Cor-
porate Centre performs as a lean, smart and efcient facility.
Of the international certication standards, the best known is
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design. Once a decidedly unsustainable and dingy call centre,
the Servus Corporate Centre is now a hallmark of sustainability,
awarded LEED Silver certication in 2012. The certication
reected consideration of many factors, including air quality and
comfort, reuse and recycling strategies, and energy efciency.
The certication is a holistic one: other factors look beyond
the building itself. Site considerations and water usage both earn
points toward LEED certication. Near a major transit hub,
public transportation serves Servus well. The team eliminated
the need for the landscape irrigation system the previous owners
had installed so they removed it.
So, what does the inclusion of all these leading edge, but
simple, green building techniques mean for the building at
the end of the day? For one, the process resulted in a group of
happy clients, Los says. The Servus staff is enjoying the new
space and the organization is benetting from the co-location
of our staff.
Los adds that Servus is very proud of this building and the
partnership with Manasc Isaac. In concert, they have achieved a
great look and practical feel for Servus employees, members and
the greater community. re
The open atrium is now
the location of a dramatic
staircase that connects
each of the buildings
three oors.
ULTIMATELY, THE
ADDITION OF DAYLIGHT
TO THE CENTRE OF THE
BUILDING REDUCES ITS
ELECTRICITY USE BY 32.5
PER CENT AND BOOSTS
EMPLOYEE HEALTH.
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GREEN VALUE
By Matt Hirji
Photo Ryan Girard
Appraisers, architects and developers see
the return in sustainable renovations, and
its not just measured in dollars
Tegan Martin-Drysdale
and her business partner
Paul Gibson are helping
RedBrick achieve new
sustainable building
practices.
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f you walked into Stadium Apartments a 34-unit modular
apartment building located in the community of Parkdale in
Edmonton, you wouldnt get the carpet smell thats become a
common scent in recently developed buildings. Nor will your nose
be treated to that fresh paint smell signature to newly christened
apartment blocks.
While those smells are commonly associated with the presti-
gious privilege of living in a freshly constructed building, for
Tegan Martin-Drysdale, these odours elicit something entirely
more menacing.
Those smells are actually toxic, says Martin-Drysdale, explain-
ing that the odours we commonly relate with new are actually
what scientists would describe as volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) chemicals in the air that are dangerous to human health.
VOCs are cancer-causing agents.
Thats one of the reasons Tegan Martin-Drysdale and her team at
RedBrick Real Estate Services the company that is the lead on the
development of the apartment block have taken strides
to choose building materials with low VOCs. RedBrick has also
incorporated other sustainable design practices such as triple-glazed
windows, solar panelling and water-efcient plumbing xtures.
Hands-down, its about the health of the occupants,
Martin-Drysdale says. In Canadas climate, we spend 90 per cent
of our time indoors. And our health is directly related to the health
of the indoor environment that we live in, she explains. When
you work in a building that has somehow integrated a sustainable
initiative into the construction or retrot, you have lower amounts
of volatile organic compounds that are being emitted into the air
in the interior of the building, so youre breathing in less toxic
substances. In Canada, with our winter climate and our extreme
temperatures, we have the most to benet from buildings that are
sustainable. I just think its smart.
Martin-Drysdale is part of a growing fraternity of developers,
landlords and architects who have made a commitment to sustain-
able building and renovation practices a broad term that encap-
sulates structures that conserve resources during construction or
retrotting and throughout operations.
In increasing numbers, progressive-minded people like
Martin-Drysdale contest that sustainable buildings particularly
green-orientated redevelopments could contribute to the
protection of the environment while also improving the comfort,
productivity, and livability for the people who occupy them.
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A study initiated by Chris
Corps of Sequel Integrated
Resource Management in
2005 gives even more credence
to these beliefs.The study,
entitled Green Value, was the
rst-ever analysis of benets of
sustainable attributes of green
building. The study offered
a variety of case studies of
projects in the U.S., Canada,
and the United Kingdom
that had integrated one or
more green initiatives into the
building. The results, according
to Corps, substantiate Martin-
Drysdales belief that one of
the key benets of sustainably
designed or redesigned
buildings is in the health and
productivity of the occupants.
One example that I cite
is a building in New York,
Corps says, pointing to a case
study from Green Value focused
on the Solaire a 27-storey
residential apartment building
in Manhattan, New York. In
that building they put in low
VOCs. A family moved into
this apartment building in
New York and their daughter
had asthma. She had never
slept through an entire night
in her life. But after moving
in, she slept through the rst
night, then she slept through
the second night, and then she
slept through the third night;
it just carried on. The answer
was low VOCs. Shes nally
breathing in good air, and shes
feeling better.
Since Green Value was
published in 2005, a substan-
tial amount of literature has
been published that provides
further proof that buildings
designed and constructed or
reimagined with sustain-
ability in mind increase the
quality of life of the occupants
as well as the quality of the
environment.
Increasingly, experts are
beginning to uncover the social
and economic benets of green
redevelopment as well. And
according to Corps, former
chairman of the Canadian Roy-
al Institute of Chartered Sur-
veyors who has been involved
in sustainable building initiatives
since the late 1980s, the benets
of thinking green often appear
in unexpected places.
The place where most
people go when they look at
doing these is Well, can I get
more rent? Corps says. But
the value also comes to the
landlord in other ways: reduced
turnover, reduced churn, and
you get reduced vacancies
because more people stay.
One reason that tenants
who occupy green buildings are
reporting high levels of satisfac-
tion is because their workforce
is more productive in these
buildings. If you nd that hard
to believe, look no further than
the Vancouver Island Technol-
ogy Park in Victoria, British
Columbia the rst LEED
Gold building in Canada.
We found one tenant in
the Vancouver Island Tech-
nology Park that had actu-
ally documented increased
throughput in their business,
Corps says. They had a 30
per cent increase in their
productivity. They proved that
up by showing that they had
more lines of code written per
hour after moving into the
sustainable building.
Corps also points to the
Left, a rendering
of the Stadium
Apartments
complex, once
completed
Right, the Solaire
in NYC, and the
Vancouver Island
Technology Park
(VITP) in Victoria
THE IDEA IS THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO RECOVER
AS MUCH AS YOU CONSUME. THROUGH ENERGY-
EFFICIENT MATERIALS AND PROCESSES, YOU
HAVE THE ABILITY TO INCREASE THE OVERALL
EFFICIENCY OF YOUR BUILDING.
PHOTOS COURTESY REDBRICK REAL ESTATE SERVICES, WIKICOMMONS, VANCOUVER ISLAND TECHNOLOGY PARK
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increased natural light that is
often associated with green
buildings. Youre saving on
electricity, but the real savings
is on the stafng side, Corps
says. The statistics on stafng
is that between 75 and 95 per
cent of your business costs are
in staff. So, when you provide
daylight, you affect staff, and
thats a bigger bang for your
buck than electricity savings.
Theres lots of documenta-
tion of increased productivity.
You have to look carefully
for it. So the tenant gets the
benet, but does the landlord
get the benet? The answer
to that question has been a
resounding yes. And its not
just that a sustainable build-
ing brings in higher rents per
square foot as is the case for
the Vancouver Island Tech-
nology Park. It also results in
lower monthly operating costs
for the property owner.
The idea is that you are
trying to recover as much
as you consume. Through
energy-efcient materials and
processes, you have the abil-
ity to increase the overall
efciency of your building,
says Nathalie Roy-Patenaude,
director-counsellor of profes-
sional practice at the Appraisal
Institute of Canada. Its always
about minimizing your oper-
ating costs your water, your
heating, and your electricity.
That minimizes the energy
waste and minimizes your op-
erating costs overall, she adds.
With that reduction,
appraisers are more likely to
assign higher property values
for buildings with sustainable
attributes when compared to
a more conventional building.
Certainly its a consid-
eration. Youre looking at
two things: youre looking at
the longevity of the building
itself and the quality of the
building over time. Based on
the quality of the nishings
and the materials being used,
there may be components in
a sustainable building that you
wont have to replace quickly
compared to more conven-
tional builds, Roy-Patenaude
says, explaining that green
buildings might fetch higher
market values when prospec-
tive buyers understand the
concrete value. You are look-
ing at the quality of the con-
struction of the building. This
is something that might set a
sustainable building apart.
Landlords who own
green buildings will be able
to generate a premium on
their lease rate if a tenant is
looking to occupy a space in
a superior quality building.
That, combined with lower
operating costs, increases the
buildings marketability and
creates value. To determine
the value of a commercial
property, we convert that
income into an indication
of value. We apply what we
call a capitalization rate, or
a discount, Roy-Patenaude
explains.
She adds: Youre
converting your income by
using a discount or cap rate,
and converting that into an
indication of value. So, lets
say the property generates
$60,000 a year, and assume
a capitalization rate of 10
per cent, thats $6,000 more
income per year. When we
convert that income, it has the
potential of leading to a higher
value at the end of that day.
For many professional land
developers, sustainable build-
ing and renovation practices
represent a way to forge a
better future.
Theres no excuse not to
do it, Martin-Drysdale says.
Its a value. It should be en-
trenched and entrained in the
way that every business does
things. The old way of thinking
that sustainability cant be done,
thats antiquated rhetoric that
needs to be broken down and
tossed out, because its not true.
Sustainability is a way of life. re
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High
Expectations
Re-skinning First Canadian Place one 90-kilogram marble slab at a
time was no easy undertaking, but the results are golden
WHEN THE
LEADERSHIP
TEAM AT
BROOKFIELD
OFFICE
PROPERTIES
DECIDED TO
RENOVATE
AN ICONIC
TORONTO
SKYSCRAPER,
THEY JUST
WANTED TO
UPGRADE THE
EXTERIOR. But, as
Stefan Dembinski, senior vice-
president of asset management,
points out, renovations are rarely
as simple as you imagine them
to be on the outset.
Thats not to say re-cladding
the skyscraper was a simple
matter. The tallest building in
the British Commonwealth
when it was built in 1975, First
Canadian Place remains the
tallest skyscraper in Canada.
B+H Architects, a global rm
thats well-versed in sustainable
design and retrotting, with
long experience in large-scale
projects, was the architect of
record when the property was
constructed in 1975. It was
only tting that the rm came
back for the re-cladding project,
collaborating with Moed de
Armas & Shannon Architects
as the design architects. In its
e-book The Second Life of Tall
Buildings, B+H writes that the
72-storey First Canadian Place
was innovative at the time of
its construction, being an ear-
ly example of structural tube
steel construction and boasting
a double-decker elevator. Its
exterior was made up of 45,000
Italian marble panels, which
were impressive enough, but in
2009, just over three decades
By Jen Janzen
IMAGES COURTESY B+H ARCHITECTS
>
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First Canadian Places
re-skinning involved the
addition of 5,600 glass
and bronze panels
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later, they were starting to show signs of
deterioration.
We had a program in place to deal with re-
placing the marble, said Dembinski, but despite
our best efforts, the marble wasnt performing to
our satisfaction. We decided it was in everybodys
best interests to replace it. If the building was a
testament to innovation when it rose from the
ground at the corner of King and Bay streets in
Torontos nancial district, it stands to reason,
then, that the buildings rejuvenation would need
to be just as advanced. And with 5,600 glass and
bronze panels planned to replace the Italian mar-
ble, the new facade would be just as impressive.
But rst, all that marble had to come off, each
90-kilogram slab of it. Enter the scaffolding.
A three-storey unit that was mechanical-
ly connected to the building and able to scale
up and down the length of the skyscraper, the
scaffolding could hold up to 160 workers as they
carefully lifted off each marble panel. On each
oor, they started at the bottom level, removing
rst the marble, then the sealant and support
brackets that held it there.
The marble may have no longer been suited
to coat a 72-storey building, but it was still reus-
able. Dembinski says all Brookeld leaders agreed
that as much of the marble as possible needed to
be re-homed. It couldnt go to some junk pile,
said Dembinski. It was stone, and didnt contain
any chemical, so it was easy to re-use. Some
materials were used for artwork, some went to
Habitat for Humanity, and other slabs were even
used in concrete and roadways. Dembinski says
they even gave marble away to people who had
connections to First Canadian Place. There are
now a few home projects re-done in white mar-
ble thanks to us, he explains.
For every eight marble panels coming down,
one glass panel went up in its place. The glass
used a ceramic frit, which, when installed on
the building, echoed the white, luminous look
of the marble. Dembinski says Brookeld chose
the glass for several reasons. We couldnt analyze
the marble in terms of structure and rigidity, so
we didnt want to go with marble again, and we
couldnt nd granite in the right mix and colour.
We decided it was better to go with a manmade
solution that would keep the iconic look of the
building, but keep the structure we wanted for
long-term durability, Dembinski says. The glass
was also a local alternative. Whereas the marble
had been imported from Italy, the glass was man-
ufactured less than 50 kilometres away from First
Canadian Place.
It took about three days for 80 workers to
replace all the marble on one oor. The tenants
of the building were top of mind at every part
of the project, with the loudest work being done
through the night shift so the tenants could go
about their days relatively undisturbed.
WHILE THE MARBLE WAS OFF
the building, Dembinski says it was a good
chance to inspect the underlying facade. We
had it all re-sealed, he says, noting the weath-
er protection helps to keep air from leaking in.
After his team removed the marble panels, they
upgraded the old insulation with state-of-the-
art, re-resistant insulation and then installed the
glass. The 450-kilogram glass panels were trans-
ported to the platform by an elevator hoist and
carried across by a monorail to where they were
needed, said B+H in its The Second Life of Tall
Buildings publication.
But the Brookeld team didnt stop with the
buildings exterior. Its kind of like when you
renovate your kitchen, says Dembinski. All of
a sudden, the dining room doesnt look so good
anymore, and you just keep going.
They replaced the chillers from the standard
units to high-efciency units, and switched out
the 35-year-old pumps for newer models. The
chillers are one of the biggest electricity-users
in the building, Dembinski explains. The old
school pumps turn off and on at xed rate, but
the new technology for pumps adds a variable
speed motor, so its energy expenditure varies
depending on its requirements.
B+H also reduced the lighting in the ofces,
taking out a third of the light bulbs. Outdoor air
fans were outtted with high-efciency motors
that were able to respond to the amount of
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ventilation required at any
time, thanks to carbon dioxide
sensors. Brookeld also
reduced the buildings water
consumption by 35 per cent
with low-ow xtures in all
the washrooms. The estimated
water savings? About 66
million litres per year.
Even now, with the
renovations complete, First
Canadian Place continues to
lead the way in sustainable
operations. Brookeld reports
its annual emissions to the
Carbon Disclosure Project
and the Global Real Estate
Sustainability Benchmark
survey. The propertys Smart
Commute Program promotes
car-sharing and bicycle travel,
and the entire building boasts
a waste diversion rate of
76 per cent. Overall,
Brookeld estimates it
has reduced total energy
consumption by 31 per cent
since the project began in
2009, and reduced greenhouse
gas emissions by 39 per cent.
The First Canadian
Place project began just as
the Canada Green Building
Council launching the
ofcial Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design
(LEED)s Gold Certication
for Existing Buildings:
Operations and Maintenance
(EB: O&M) program. Upon
the buildings completion
in 2012, after the required
analysis and waiting period to
measure the performance of
the energy-saving initiatives,
the property received its
LEED Gold Certication
(EB: O&M).
If the brains behind the
project call it innovative,
theyve got conrmation from
others: First Canadian Place
received a City of Toronto
Urban Design Award, and a
Stelco Design Award Hon-
ourable Mention. In 2012, the
Recycling Council of Ontario
awarded First Canadian Place
Gold in Marketing and Com-
munications and in Facilities.
Something to this scale
had never really been done
before, says Dembinski.
Were very proud of the
result. re
RE-CLADDING
THE TORONTO
SKYSCRAPER
WAS NOT
A SIMPLE
MATTER. FIRST
CANADIAN
PLACE REMAINS
THE TALLEST
HIGH RISE IN
CANADA.
In addition to re-cladding First
Canadian Place, its owners
also replaced chillers with high
efciency units, resulting in huge
electricity savings.
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room of their own
A 1930s power plant
nets new life as an
innovative oice space
for EPCOR employees
PCOR Water,
Edmontons water
utility, is located in
the citys historic
Rossdale neighbourhood,
nestled in the citys picturesque
river valley. The site has
undergone myriad incarnations
throughout its history.
At one time a First
Nations campsite and burial
ground, Rossdale later became
the location of the original
Hudsons Bay Company
trading post, Fort Edmonton.
Ultimately, the Edmonton
Electric Lighting and Power
Company (which would
become EPCOR) stationed
the Rossdale Power Plant
here. Edmontons rst water
treatment plant shares this site,
as do laboratories, administrative
ofces and pump stations that
are still in use today.
As part of the overall ac-
commodation planning at the
Rossdale site, EPCOR Water
Services began to look for
a new location for its senior
management team in 2013.
An unlikely location emerged
as a viable possibility: the
1930s administration build-
ing. A provincially designated
historic resource, the building
boasted a brick facade, antique
double-hung windows and
dramatic interior features, all
of which promised an attrac-
tive and potentially-sustainable
home for executive staff.
Since 1931, various ren-
ovations and modications
had been carried out on the
building. Outdated interior
features such as faux-wood
wall treatments were added,
while the structures mechan-
ical and electrical systems
and building envelope had
deteriorated, rendering the
building inefcient by modern
standards. EPCOR was aware
that to transform this trou-
bled character building into a
modern and progressive ofce
for its executive staff, it would
need to signicantly alter the
place. Capable hands would
have to coordinate this ren-
ovation, though; as a historic
resource, even small changes
would need to be approved by
By Kent McKay
ROSSDALES
PAST REVISITED
E
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New windows, reinsulated walls, and repointed
masonry extend the life of this building and reduce
energy use, while maintaining the integrity of its
historical appearance.
IMAGES COURTESY MANASC ISAAC
Alberta Cultures Historic Resource
Management department.
Architectural rm Manasc Isaac
was commissioned to reimagine the
EPCOR 1931 Heritage Building.
The rm kicked off the renovation
with a series of deeply collaborative
workshops, bringing together the
projects designers, contractors and
clients to map out a holistic vision
and integrated process for the project.
By becoming intimately familiar
with EPCORs operational require-
ments, behaviours and desires for the
space, the design team was able to
accurately articulate a conception of
the building as a progressive ofce.
The reimagine approach was applied
to both the exterior and interior of
the EPCOR 1931 Heritage Building,
dramatically improving both building
performance and aesthetics. I recall the
dungeon feel of the interior when we
rst visited the existing building, says
Vedran Skopac, project architect for
the EPCOR 1931 Heritage Building.
It was obvious that one of our main
missions would be bringing daylight
deep into the dark central part of the
deep oor plate. Also important was to
add context by exposing the structure
of the host building. Suspended ceilings
were added to create a psychological
effect of invisible walls, separating the
interconnected space into specic uses;
communication, collaboration, quiet
work, rest and dining.
Although the exterior of the
building looks much the same as it did
before the renovation, the facade was
upgraded to contemporary building
standards. While bricks last forever,
mortar does not, so the buildings
mortar was repointed, which involves
replacing all of the deteriorated or
weathered mortar in the masonry,
reducing the future risk of water inl-
tration. Meanwhile, to improve energy
performance, the design team added
a layer of spray insulation behind the
interior layer of brick. The added
insulation acts like a blanket that wraps
around the building, preventing energy
loss during cold Alberta winters, and
making the space more comfortable
for occupants.
The buildings old, deteriorating
energy-inefcient single-glazed
windows posed a particular challenge,
as Alberta Cultures Historic Resource
Management department mandated
that the windows be maintained. The
design team had to nd craftsmen
capable of meticulously restoring
them to their original 1931 condition,
>
It was obvious that
one of our main
missions would be
bringing daylight
deep into the dark
central part of the
deep oor plate. Also
important was to add
context by exposing
the structure of the
host building.
- Vedran Skopac, project architect
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room of their own
including counterweights and
hardware. Now refurbished,
the operable windows
are a focal point for these
new executive ofces, and
a window into the past.
Skilled trades people were
able to maintain the original
appearance yet dramatically
improve energy performance
of the building.
Inside the building, the
behind-the-scenes efcien-
cy upgrades continued. A
high-performance mechanical
induction system now mini-
mizes the size and amount
of ductwork within the space.
Skilled trades refurbished
the original vintage light
xtures and upgraded them
to money- and energy-saving
LED technology.
The team restored the
structures special heritage
features and returned them to
prominence. Perhaps the most
historically signicant area
in the building is its dramat-
ic lobby. This space features
terrazzo ooring a mixture
of glass, marble or quartz with
a binder. One doesnt often
see this kind of ooring in
modern ofce design because
it is labour-intensive to the
point of being cost prohibitive.
Its rarity made this composite
material desirable, so the de-
sign team identied the ex-
isting terrazzo as an asset, and
worked to restore horizontal
and vertical installed terrazzo
features to their past glory.
Ornate stair railings and heavy
wooden doors, which the
team restored and reused, and
glass panels further add to the
period character of the lobby.
The historical value of
these features shouldnt fool
visitors into thinking that the
ofce is stuck in the 1930s.
EPCOR 1931 Heritage
Building is a thoroughly
21st-century ofce. Alberta
Cultures Historic Resource
Management suggested a
visible demarcation between
historical features and modern
upgrades, and tasked the
design team with making
modern design choices that
also respected the history of
the building. To that end, a
step past the buildings lobby
reveals a series of modern
ofces and meeting spaces
that offer any amenity that
executive staff might expect.
The modern kitchens
focal point is an LED-lit
backsplash; its changeable hues
lend visual interest. The design
teams generous application
of glass partitions in the
ofce areas addresses privacy
and sound concerns while
allowing light to pour into
interior spaces. Modern light
xtures with dynamic forms
remind occupants and visitors
that although the building is a
treasured historical asset, it is
also a functional, comfortable
and contemporary workspace.
Using demountable glazed
partitions, the ofces are
both private and transparent,
allowing daylight deep into
the building.
Since moving into the
transformed space in the fall
of 2013, the EPCOR Water
leadership team has been
enjoying its refurbished home.
The EPCOR 1931 Heritage
Building renovation is proof
positive that the reimagine
approach works.
The design team used
simple techniques to breathe
new life into a very old
building, one that is well
beyond the average life span
for its type. By reclaiming an
underused space, EPCOR
invested in preserving the
architectural legacy of the
Rossdale site and side-
stepped the environmental
impact of tearing down
and building new, all while
achieving its original goal of a
contemporary and sustainable
space for its executive team. re
The design team made modern
design choices that also respected
the history of the building.
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IMAGES COURTESY CITY OF TORONTO
higher ground
The Toronto Tower Renewal
initiative is poised to change
downtown and act as a model to
other tired Canadian cityscapes
hen it comes to the location of mid-20th cen-
tury residential towers, Canadian cities are an
anomaly in North America because most res-
idential towers are in the suburbs. Why does it
matter? Because many of them are now reaching the end of
their initial life cycles, yet theyve been omitted from city centre
regeneration plans undertaken by many municipalities in the
early 2000s.
A lot of discussion on sustainability has been around re-
vitalizing downtowns, says Graeme Stewart, an associate with
Torontos ERA Architects Inc. Thats actually been remarkably
successful. But Canadian cities are unique in that we have a
different sort of urbanism than in American cities. If you look at
achieving sustainability, the biggest challenge is: what do you do
with the suburbs?
Thats precisely the challenge the City of Toronto set
out to answer six years ago. In an unprecedented move, then-
mayor David Miller presented a report to city council proposing
a tower renewal initiative. The idea was to create a central hub
of information, consulting services and planning assistance to
encourage the owners of Torontos 1,200 residential towers to
renovate their buildings over a number of years, with the initial
purpose of making them more energy sustainable.
The latest Statistics Canada data shows us there are 548,000
people living in these buildings, says Eleanor McAteer, project
director for the Tower Renewal initiative. These buildings have
a lot of potential for improvement. There is no energy efciency
built into them at all. They are sturdy buildings that will be with
us for a long time to come, and its much more cost-effective
to improve them and retrot them than to tear them down and
replace them.
More than just improving energy efciency and aesthetics,
Toronto Tower Renewal extended its focus to look at the social
dimension, with a challenge to build sustainable communities
for some of the citys most vulnerable residents. The bulk of the
towers exist in suburban deserts, with limited access to transit,
green space and services. Most residents are renters in low-
income groups, including newcomers to Canada and seniors.
We know this is a real opportunity to look at the neigh-
bourhoods, these tower neighbourhoods that were originally
built in the 1960s, with the notion that everyone would have
a car and they would drive to whatever they were doing,
explains McAteer. Many of them are isolated with lots of space
around them. We can use that space better; animate the space by
putting in playgrounds, community gardens and better walk-
ways. Its also possible to use this open area for new develop-
ment and in that way bring investment into areas of the city that
are otherwise not seeing new investment.
By Brynna Leslie
URBAN
REGENERATION
W
>
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by Sam Thinker
Nam sed eum inctet
ut quam volorumqui
acep et eum inciiscidero
experis eum vel eos
presequ
L
higher ground
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The owner of 1011 Lansdowne in Toronto
had already started a retrot of the
building when Toronto announced its
Tower Renewal pilot project.
IN 2008, THE CITY INVITED FOUR BUILDING
proprietors to take part in a Tower Renewal pilot project,
including the owners of 1011 Lansdowne, a 23-storey, 352-
unit structure that was identied as the worst highrise building
in Toronto in the late 1990s. Prior to 2005, it was known as
Torontos main crack tower.
Empty units with missing doors served as headquarters for
drug dealers and squatters, noted a Toronto Star report in 2012.
Prostitutes roamed the hallways. Residents bragged theyd lived
there for years without paying rent.
Owner Vincenzo Barrasso, who owns ve residential
towers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), had already started
the retrot process on 1011 Lansdowne renovating units,
improving security and tenant pull when his colleague
received an invitation by the city to take part in the Tower
Renewal pilot project.
I immediately recognized there was a path, a framework
within which I could manoeuvre to provide a better quality
of life, a better building, more energy efciency and a better
business, says Roslyn Brown, vice-president of Barrassos three
companies. The energy, the vision and the expertise I found at
Tower Renewal suggested nothing was too big or too long a
timeframe to be overlooked.
Tower Renewal is built on six different components,
including three environmental improving energy, water
and waste and three designed to improve quality of life for
residents community-building, safety and building operations.
The city has incorporated a program called STEP, to guide
landlords through what is generally a multi-year, or even multi-
decade, approach to refurbishment.
The rst step is to know your building, explains McAteer.
Gather information, do an energy audit, a water, waste
diversion and safety audit, get a complete assessment of the state
of good repair of the building, look at community amenities
you have and the kind of community support residents of your
building would benet from.
From there, landowners are encouraged to undertake low-
cost or no-cost upgrades, including replacing broken locks
and light bulbs, cutting back hedges or reconditioning existing
utilities equipment to make sure its in good operation.
The third step is to undertake things that require more
investment or are more complex.
45
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On the building side, they engage with tenants to
understand what kind of programming and investments they
would like to see at the building, says McAteer. It might be
something like a new playground or a community garden,
which would require a tenant association to be established.
On the energy efciency side, it may be a larger investment like
a new boiler with building automation.
The nal step is about cutting-edge improvements, she
says, giving the example of an on-site community dental clinic
to serve residents and those in neighbouring buildings. On the
energy efciency side, it might be something like cogeneration,
where youre also providing energy to the grid, says McAteer.
The city estimates between 200 and 300 tower owners have
registered with the program, with each tower now in some state
of retrot. The city launched a new nancing program this year
that can provide 20-year term low interest loans, says McAteer.
Owners can borrow up to ve per cent of a buildings assessed
value, with repayments added to their annual property tax bills.
Built into Toronto Tower Renewal is the assumption that
other Canadian cities can emulate the initiative. Vancouver has
614 residential buildings that are more than 12 storeys high;
Montreal is home to 452 high-rises; Ottawa has 240; and
Edmonton, 238. Most of the aging building stock is located in
areas outside of city centres, according to the Centre for Urban
Growth and Renewal, a non-prot think tank co-founded by
ERA Architects.
Canada is still a young country, so were not used to
retrotting; were used to building new, says Stewart. Because
the buildings are so similar across the country, theres a really
good opportunity for systemization.
Stewart says in order to get a solid retrot system in place,
however, Canada needs to create a sophisticated industry of
builders, architects and manufacturers of materials. Much of the
cladding used on high rise retrots in Toronto, for example, is
currently coming from Europe, which makes the process more
expensive than it needs to be. Its like anything when you do
it the rst time, its sloppy and expensive, says Stewart.
But as the promise of tower renewal spreads beyond
Torontos city limits, Stewart believes it represents a great, albeit
time-sensitive, opportunity for the private sector. The retrot
industry is getting bigger and bigger as buildings get older and
older, says Stewart. Theres still a bit of time until a crisis.
Fifteen years from now, however, there may be a consideration
of tearing these buildings down. Even the most extensive retrot
is about a quarter of the cost of tearing down and building new.
The next phase for Toronto is a rezoning application to be
put before city council in July that will allow for mixed-use of
residential towers, to encourage the establishment of shops
primarily grocery and pharmacy and services, like medical
and dentistry, in the lobbies of their buildings. It may also allow
tenants to legally use units as ofce space for small businesses,
something that researchers know already goes on behind
closed doors.
After more than $2 million in renovations, the property
at 1011 Lansdowne, once a scar on the citys landscape, is
now a beacon for others, something that couldnt have been
accomplished without the centralized support of the city, says
the companys vice-president.
I shudder to think what life would look like to me without
the Tower Renewal initiative, says Brown. Not only would it
work in other cities, I think its a must. If I were running a city,
I would require every landlord who has a tower to register, at
least to learn something. Because once you learn, you cant look
back. Once youre exposed, youre on the road to fullment
the landlord, the tenants and the company as well. re
In order to get a solid retrot
system in place, however, Canada
needs to create a sophisticated
industry of builders, architechs,
and manufacturers of materials.
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public eye
A 1966 oice tower ushered in a time of
plenty with unadorned optimism. Do we
value it enough to reimagine it?
y attachment
to Edmontons
Chancery Hall
has less to do with
an admiration for its ground-
breaking precast concrete
cladding and nostalgia for
its mid-century lines, and
more to do with personal
reminiscence.
My fathers law rm,
Purvis & Alford (which
included other names,
depending on the year and
partners involved), had its
ofces there. My dad often
worked weekends, one or
more kids in tow to do
homework or just goof
around while he worked.
As a child, I spent many
free-ranging weekends
combing the hallways, riding
the elevators and rolling
stuff down the stately spiral
staircase in the entranceway
that led to the basement,
accompanied by a friend and
one of several dogs again,
depending on the year. The
ofce tower looms as large in
my imagination as a favourite
childhood park might in
another adults reckoning.
It will always be a
silhouette in my memories
but thats my prejudice
declared. Should the aging
tower also keep a place in
the skyline of an increasingly
important part of Edmontons
downtown?

CHANCERY HALL HAS
its genesis at the crossing
of several architectural
movements in evidence at
the time. It was built in 1966,
during a decade of booming
construction in Edmonton,
much of it characterised by the
straight lines, steel and concrete
that had for decades been the
hallmark of modernism all
over the continent.
In late-19th and early-
20th century North America,
architect Louis Sullivan was
modernizing city skylines
and inspiring the Midwestern
architects of the Chicago
School, including Frank
Lloyd Wright. Sullivan is
sometimes called the father
of skyscrapers. His preference,
part of his time and era,
was strongly to eschew
ornamentation, opting
instead to reveal the forms
that lie within.
It would be greatly for
our aesthetic good if we
By Mi Purvis
MY URBAN
PLAYGROUND
M
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IMAGES COURTESY MANASC ISAAC
should refrain entirely from
the use of ornament for a
period of years We shall
have learned that ornament
is mentally a luxury, not a
necessity, he wrote in 1892s
Ornament in Architecture. We
feel intuitively that our strong,
athletic, and simple forms will
carry with natural ease the
raiment of which we dream.
Modernist architecture
later included brutalism under
its umbrella, a post-First World
War movement that started in
Europe under the stewardship
of Swiss architect Le Corbusier
(nee Charles-douard
Jeanneret-Gris). Modernism
and, more narrowly, brutalism
inuenced the rebuilding of
swathes of post-war Europe,
and made appearances in
Canadian buildings, many of
them public, from the 1950s
through the 1970s. Brutalist
examples include the Manulife
Centre in Toronto and the
University of Alberta Faculty of
Law building in Edmonton. In
fact, most Canadian university
campuses are home to at least
some brutalist architecture.
To the modernist sensibility,
brutalism adds concrete as a
nishing element, giving many
of our public structures a squat,
bunker-like look.
Sullivans strong, athletic
Midwestern forms intersect
neatly with Le Corbusiers
brutalism in many North
American cities, perhaps
nowhere more obviously
than in Edmonton. The citys
skyline today is a testament to
the times, much of it built as
concrete boxes of greater or
lesser loveliness. And though
it is a building that might be
overlooked, I would argue that
Chancery Hall stands rmly on
the side of greater loveliness.
Bouey and Bouey
Architects originally
designed the building in
the expressionist style
expressionism characterised
more esoterically by pent
emotion, and more practically
by lines found in nature
>
At 50, Chancery Hall is at a precarious age. Features like
these playful precast stairs, which once led to the notable
swish restaurant The Pickwick Inn, are in need of a revamp.
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public eye
think curving cave walls and
the iterating edges of minerals.
The upward jutting zig-zag
of the rooine and the gently
rounded windows hark to
that sensibility. It is a response
to modernism, Shafraaz
Kaba says of the buildings
expressionist origins. Hes
a partner in Manasc Isaac
Architects, one of a dozen or
so rms that responded to the
citys requests for expressions
of interest in repurposing
Chancery Hall.
The windows have
a sculptural quality, Kaba
says. They are portal-like,
reminiscent of ones youd see
on an aircraft, and they run
counter to the harsh modern
style of the time.
Chancery Hall faces Sir
Winston Churchill Square,
and it neighbours the Francis
Winspear Centre for Music
and the Citadel Theatre to the
south. Directly north are the
graceful, swooping lines of the
Art Gallery of Alberta, itself
a reboot by Randall Stout of
the brutalist 1966 Edmonton
Art Gallery, which opened
its refurbished doors to the
public in early 2012. Also near
City Hall, and connecting
directly to the LRT, Chancery
Halls position in the citys
civic precinct and arts district
means that its stature is far
greater than its 11 storeys and
14,617 square feet.
In 2004, Ascent magazine
called Chancery Hall one of
the top 50 most signicant
precast concrete projects in
North America, a list that
features what the magazine
calls the best of the best,
selected from many hundreds
of projects. On this list,
Edmontons stalwart rubs
shoulders with Toronto
City Hall, San Franciscos
TransAmerica Pyramid and
Floridas Sunshine Skyway
Bridge. Ascent says that,
after its debut in 1966, the
precast, pre-stressed design
concept was soon duplicated
with buildings in Colorado,
Oklahoma, Texas, North
Carolina and Florida.
Coming up on 50,
Chancery Hall is at a
precarious age. In Capital
Modern: A Guide to Edmonton
Architecture and Urban Design,
1940-1969, Kaba quotes
architecture critic Christopher
Hume, who said: Once a
building hits, say, 75 or 80
years old, it becomes venerable
and is deemed untouchable,
protected by vigilant
preservationists. But between
its 40th and 70th year, it is at
its most vulnerable.
Trevor Boddy, critic,
curator, and historian of
architecture and urbanism
at the University of British
Columbia, wrote in Capital
Modern that this vulnerability
is especially sharp in
Edmonton. Edmontonians
come to hate their recent
past with a vehemence that
does not exist elsewhere.
Recent examples of this local
derision include the loss
of the Central Pentecostal
Tabernacle, and the modernist
granite-clad BMO building
on Jasper Avenue. Something
has to happen to Chancery
Hall, and demolishing it in
favour of a new build is one
of the options. Does it stand a
chance?
It has a modern, sophisticated
look, Shafraaz Kaba says. There
are many ways to reimagine it in a
contemporary way.
Paul Van Imschoots bas
relief stretches upward
from the basement past
the lobby. History of Law
was commissioned as a
nod to the buildings rst
tenants lawyers.
s
u
m
m
e
r

2
0
1
4
49
A stroll through the
hallways, well away
from the windows
that look out on
downtown, leaves
visitors feeling
hemmed in.
CHANCERY HALL HAS
had upgrades to its mech-
anical structures, and many
of its windows have been
replaced or resealed. But
one engineering study says
the precast is not in good
shape, says Walter Trocenko,
branch manager of real
estate, housing and economic
sustainability at the City of
Edmonton. With oor plates
of 10,080 square feet, the
building is no longer adequate
for its current tenants, City of
Edmonton employees.
Its low ceiling height is no
longer standard in an ofce
building, and it limits the
space available for mechanical
systems. A stroll through the
hallways, well away from the
windows that look out on
downtown, leaves visitors
feeling hemmed in. The city
bought the building in 1987
and will be moving its staff
from Chancery Hall and
other downtown locations to
its new digs in the multiuse
space of the downtown arena,
set to open in August 2016.
Trocenkos main task
these days is to plan and move
2,000 staff to the new space
in a seamless fashion. But
thinking about the future of
Chancery Hall is also on his
radar. We have to huddle
around the building, he says.
We have solicited requests
for expressions of interest. And
we need to start the discussion
before the end of the year.
This is an iconic and
recognizable building, says
Manasc Isaac partner Vivian
Manasc. It has very cool
architectural elements. But
the building is of its time.
The City of Edmonton
needs bigger oor plates,
and it doesnt serve a large
organization well. Its not
efcient, and its not bright
it needs to be reimagined.
Manasc says she can
envision the rst few oors
being dedicated to ofce
space for smaller tenants,
including not-for-prots
and smaller businesses. The
remaining oors could be
reimagined as residential
space. There would be an
undeniable appeal to living
on Churchill Square, with
access to the LRT right in
the building. The approach
depends on the team of
architects.
Personally, I would try
to create new windows and
bring in more light, Kaba
says, but retain the precast
concrete. It has a modern,
sophisticated look. There are
many ways to reimagine it in
a contemporary way. He says
that to ensure the building is
performing as efciently as
possible architects would have
to look at the wall assembly. If
it proved too difcult to leave
the iconic cladding on the
outside, they could consider
re-skinning with a glass box
around the building.
I would also like to give
the building a better interface
with the street, Kaba says.
A sympathetic canopy would
allow patios for street-level
businesses, and provide a
welcoming look and feel.
The building craves a more
effective way to open onto the
world. Once inside, the lobby is
modestly welcoming. A bas-
relief by Paul Van Imschoot,
History of Law, still graces the
interior. I would hope that any
reimagining of Chancery Hall
would keep this feature as a
testament to the many lawyers
who have strode its halls,
including several City Solicitors,
and of course my dad, Stuart
Purvis, QC.
Sentiment aside, Manasc
agrees with Kaba. I would
like to retain and bring out
the best elements of the
building, she says. It could
be as wonderful as, or better
than ever.
Trocenko says there
are challenges beyond the
upgrades and the small
footprint and celing height
of the place. The concrete
cladding has structural
properties. It will take a team
with capacity and creativity
to work with us on Chancery
Hall, he says. But it has the
makings of a great public
piece. We just need to engage
a team of individuals to nd
the right way to do it.
In Edmonton, we lurch
from boom to boom without
ever truly nishing an
area. In our effort to outrun
our former selves, we can
neglect buildings around us
that are truly notable. Many
of our public buildings are
gems, especially considering
the masses of indifferent
and uninspired private
commercial structures that we
see cropping up all around
us. Thankfully, we may be
at a time when its possible
to reimagine a building not
only because its the greenest
option out there, but also
because it allows us to pay
homage to our built past
instead of disparaging and
razing it. Heres to hoping
that the enlightened minds at
the City of Edmonton truly
engage with Chancery Hall
and, as Trocenko says, huddle
around it, to reimagine it as
the signature structure it is. re

r
e
i
m
a
g
i
n
e
50
re
SOURCES: ZEROFOOTPRINT.NET AND THE BUSINESS CASE FOR GREEN BUILDING (WORLD GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL)
The percentage of
improvement in mental
function and memory that
occupants demonstrate in
LEED-certied buildings
with outside views
The percentage decrease
in hospital stays those
occupants experience
The percentage by which a green
buildings energy is reduced compared to
a conventional building, based on LEED-
certied buildings in the United States
40 million. The number of tonnes of building rubble that London would generate by tearing down just its high-rise towers.
The percentage of
North Americas
greenhouse gas
emissions (GHGs)
that can be blamed
on buildings
50
The mathematics behind sustainable and reimagined spaces adds up to a convincing
case for investing in the future of our buildings
BY THE NUMBERS
last word
79
The percentage of New York
Citys carbon footprint that its
5,000+ towers generate
10-25
25% - 30%
8.5%
+14%
Increase in test scores by students in LEED-certied buildings with daylight
+18%
Increase in productivity workers experience in these settings
$30
The value in U.S. dollars
that deep retrots have
added per square foot
in value to ofce spaces,
based on decreased
energy costs and higher
productivity
up to
780.429.3977 manascisaac.com
MANASC
ISAAC
70.5%
Reduction
in natural
gas usage:
42.5%
Reduction
in power
usage:
ASSET
VALUE
SERVUS CREDIT UNION
CORPORATE CENTRE
Signicant reductions in energy
consumption were achieved
during the rst year after being
reimagined, resulting in lower
operating costs.
REAL RETURN
ON YOUR
INVESTMENT.
000RE-ManascReimagine-FP.indd 1 2014-06-04 11:36 AM RISum14 50-52 LastWord.indd 50 2014-06-06 1:35 PM

40 million. The number of tonnes of building rubble that London would generate by tearing down just its high-rise towers.
BY THE NUMBERS
780.429.3977 manascisaac.com
MANASC
ISAAC
70.5%
Reduction
in natural
gas usage:
42.5%
Reduction
in power
usage:
ASSET
VALUE
SERVUS CREDIT UNION
CORPORATE CENTRE
Signicant reductions in energy
consumption were achieved
during the rst year after being
reimagined, resulting in lower
operating costs.
REAL RETURN
ON YOUR
INVESTMENT.
000RE-ManascReimagine-FP.indd 1 2014-06-04 11:36 AM RISum14 50-52 LastWord.indd 51 2014-06-06 1:35 PM
MANASC
ISAAC
Top: Water Centre, Calgary Alberta. Bottom (left to right): Eastgate Ofces for Environment Canada, Edmonton Alberta; Government Centre and Library, Slave Lake Alberta; Athabasca University
Academic Research Centre, Athabasca Alberta
EDMONTON 780.429.3977 CALGARY 403.614.9909 manascisaac.com
We are Canadian leaders in green
design, shaping the built environment
to be healthy, beautiful and sustainable.
architecture engineering interiors
000RE-ManascArch-FP.indd 1 2014-06-04 11:32 AM
RISum14 50-52 LastWord.indd 52 2014-06-06 1:35 PM

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